In a Ziploc bag combine:

2/3 cup flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Add:
1 pkg. Pleasant Valley Beef Short Ribs

Shake to coat ribs. Saute coated ribs in 1/4 cup butter. Place in slow cooker.

In a saucepan combine and bring to a boil:

1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce or salsa
1/3 cup catsup
1/3 cup Worchestershire Sauce
5 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

Pour over ribs in slow cooker. Cook on low to medium for 7-9 hours. Add scrubbed and pricked potatoes and peeled and sliced carrots if desired. Add a green salad for dinner.

Or you may serve with Oven-Baked Brown Rice, steamed broccoli, and a green salad.

Nate and Lisle saddled the horses to go find the cows.

We moved some cows from one pasture to another on Saturday. Apparently, our cows were feeling a bit social and broke through the fence to mingle with the neighbor’s cows. Once all the cows were rounded up, there was a bit of sorting to do before loading the trailer. Nate, Matt, and Ken separated the cows without any rodeos this time around. Everything went pretty smoothly.

Matt, Nate, and the boys watched Grandpa drive away with a load of cows.

Moving cows has its down times. The little boys entertained themselves with the cattails growing alongside the road.

“Look Mom! It’s a bomb.”

Who needs video games for blowing things up when you’ve got cattails?

Booth at Provo Farmers Market

The Provo farmers market has begun and Pleasant Valley Beef will have a booth throughout the summer. We are also planning to attend the Thanksgiving Point Farmers Market and looking into the Heber Valley Market. Please take time to come by the booth and get to know us better. We have ground beef and beef patties for sale. Soon we will have sampler packs for sale as well.

Sorry to be so slow to get this posted.  Today is the 16th and we have 3″ of snow.
Of course, we had the apricots in blossom.  We will be OK if the temperature stays
above 27.

CROPS
- Travis has delivered all the fertilizer and Dad has spread it
- the oats are in and snowed on twice
- the barely ground was harrowed once and ready to be leveled
- the land plain is not working right and needs welding unless finding the right rock will work

COWS
- will haul to Chester but the grass is not growing due to the colder weather
- might need to haul hay out there to feed them
 - we are waiting for one more calf to be born

REPAIRS
- need high water ditches cleaned
- need to  start on fencing once all the barley is in

Thanks for the Easter Party, it was a lot of fun.

Loading the cattle to take to spring pasture

FOR THE BEEF:
3 lb. Pleasant Valley chuck or rump beef roast
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 T. whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

FOR THE SAUCE:
1 large (1 lb.) can tomato sauce
1/2 pound green chiles, roasted, skinned and sliced OR 1 8 oz. can
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup jalapeno juice ( I’ve never used this and it’s still spicy and delicious.)

Combine the ingredients for the beef in a crock pot. Cook for a minimum of 6 hours on low or until meat falls apart. (I do 5 hours on high.) Add water as necessary to keep meat covered in liquid.

Remove cooked meat from crock pot; set aside to cool meat. Plan on an hour or so for the meat to cool. (I never wait an hour for it to cool. I just use two forks to shred the meat.)

Remove broth from the crockpot. Strain out and discard solid ingredients; set aside the broth.

Finely shred the cooled beef. Add shredded meat back to crock pot along with the ingredients for the sauce. Add enough broth to keep moist. 

Cover the crock pot and cook on low for two more hours.

Use the meat for tacos, salads, enchiladas, burritos, etc.

(I could never cook fluffy brown rice until I found this recipe.)

1 1/2 cups long, medium, or short-grain brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
2 tsp. butter or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Adjust the oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375°. Spread rice in 8-inch square baking dish.

2. Bring water and butter or oil to boil, covered in medium saucepan over high heat; once boiling, immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice. ( I actually put the butter and salt on top of the rice in the casserole dish. I use a teapot to boil the water. Once boiling I measure it out and pour over the rice, butter, salt and stir. This way I don’t lose any water to steam.) Cover baking dish tightly with doubled layer of foil. Bake rice 1 hour, until tender.

3. Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with dinner fork, then cover dish with clean kitchen towel; let rice stand 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice stand 5 minutes longer; serve immediately.

1 lb. Pleasant Valley stew beef, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 cups canned tomatoes
6 carrots, peeled and cubed
4 celery stalks, sliced in 1 inch pieces
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut
2 large onions, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup raw pearl barley
6 cups hot brown rice (2 cups raw)

Brown meat in  a large, heavy pan. Add vegetables, seasonings, and barley. Add water if needed. ( I always need to add at least 2 cups of water.) Simmer for 3 to 4 hours or cook in oven all day at 250°. Stew may also be prepared in a slow cooker. Cook on low 10-12 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Serve over steamed brown rice.

(6 servings)
2 lbs. Pleasant Valley stew beef, cubed
2 med. onions, chopped
3 med. carrots, peeled and quartered
peas or other leftover veggies
1 can tomato soup
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup sweet or sour pickle juice

Put ingredients in a larger casserole dish, cover tightly. (Don’t brown the meat first.) Bake at 275° for 5 hours. Or put in a crock pot for five hours. Serve with green salad and rolls.

MEATBALLS
1 1/2 lb. Pleasant Valley ground beef
1 potato, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, grated
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. bread crumbs

WHITE SAUCE
1 1/2 c. milk
1 T. flour
1 T. butter
1 can cream of chicken soup

Shape into meatballs and place in 9×13 casserole. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until brown.

Make white sauce: Melt butter, stir in flour. Gradually add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for one minute. Stir in cream of chicken soup.

Pour sauce over meatballs and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Turn off oven. Sprinkle grated cheese over top and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Serve with/over baked potato, with a green salad and peas.